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Union Budget 2025: What to Expect for the Agri-Tech Industry?

Synopsis:

The agri-tech industry is important not only for those who run agri-tech startups but also for overall agriculture in India. If technology is utilised appropriately, it can help farmers improve their productivity and enable them to earn more money. Even in the past, budgets have tried to give a boost to the agri-tech sector. For example, in Budget 2023, Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman announced that an Agriculture Accelerator Fund would be set up to encourage youngsters, who run agriculture startups in rural India. Hence, stakeholders expect the government to continue giving a boost to the agri-tech sector through the Union Budget 2025 by encouraging the use of technologies like precision farming, crop mapping, and drones in agriculture.


India has a huge agriculture sector that employs millions of people but faces several problems and constraints related to poor crop yields, small landholdings, etc. This is where the agri-tech sector has emerged as a ray of hope in recent years. By using modern agriculture practices driven by technology, like precision farming, crop mapping, and drones, farmers can turn their fortunes around. In the recent past, the Government has announced key initiatives through the Union Budget like setting up of an Agriculture Accelerator Fund and the development of Digital Public Agriculture Infrastructure that can promote the agri-tech sector by giving a boost to several agri startups. Even in the upcoming Budget 2025, stakeholders expect Finance Minister Ms. Niramala Sitharaman to place an emphasis on the agri-tech sector for the overall development of agriculture in the country.

Introduction

  • Why the Agri-Tech Industry is a Key Focus Area

    As per a report published in the Economic Times, around 45% of India’s workforce is employed in the agriculture sector, but agriculture contributes only 18% to India’s gross value added (GVA). This shows that the productivity in agriculture is really low, as it employs a lot of people but does not make a sizeable contribution to India’s GVA. Moreover, India’s labour productivity in agriculture is much lower compared to that of developed economies. The crop yield in our country is much lower than advanced countries. These pressing issues can be addressed if technology adoption is incentivized in the agriculture sector. This is why the agri-tech sector is a key focus area in the Union Budget 2025.

  • Role of the Union Budget in Shaping the Agri-Tech Industry

    In recent years, the budget has placed emphasis on the agri-tech sector. For example, in the Budget 2024, Ms. Sitharaman announced that the government was working on Agri Stack, which is the digital public infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture. This revolutionary initiative is aimed at bringing more than 6 crore farmers under the system of formal land registry. This initiative is expected to make it easier for agri-tech startups to get farmers’ data, which can reduce their costs and help them onboard farmers onto their platforms. With access to farmers’ data, agri-tech startups can innovate better and come out with solutions to address challenges faced by farmers, which can improve their productivity.

    In Budget 2023, Ms. Sitharaman announced that an “Agriculture Accelerator Fund” would be set to motivate agri startups so that they can come out with innovative and affordable solutions for farmers. There is no denying that agriculture is one of the most important sectors in India. Hence, the Union Budget pays sufficient attention to not only agriculture but also to related sectors like agri-tech.

Key Expectations from the Agri-Tech Industry

  • Expected Budget Allocations[1]

  • Policy Updates Likely to Impact the Agri-Tech Industry

    According to a report published in The Hindu Business Line, the Union Budget 2025 is expected to give a boost to the adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), drones, and satellite data in agriculture, which in turn will be good for the agri-tech industry. These technologies can certainly impact agriculture favourably. For example, drones can help farmers monitor their crops efficiently, spray pesticides precisely, and map agriculture fields.

    Simply put, these technologies can bring precision to age-old agricultural practices to improve productivity. The government is expected to find a way to make the implementation of such technologies possible for farmers with small landholdings, which are in huge numbers in India. Of course, such changes cannot be effectively implemented without the government giving a boost to digital connectivity and digital literacy in the country.

Trends from Previous Budgets and Their Influence on Budget 2025

The government has been trying to promote the agri-tech sector through the budget for some time now. For example, in 2022, while presenting the Union Budget, Ms. Sitharaman announced a scheme to deliver digital and high-tech services to farmers. The scheme was meant to capitalise on public sector research and agri-tech companies in the private sector.

In Budget 2022, the government showed interest in technologies like drones and digitisation of land records to improve productivity in agriculture. Further, Budget 2023 gave an even bigger boost to the agri-tech sector by announcing that an Agriculture Accelerator Fund would be set up to motivate youngsters running agriculture startups in rural India. Based on the trends in the past, it is likely that Ms. Sitharaman will announce policy measures targeted at digital technologies to promote the agri-tech sector and overall agriculture.

Challenges to be Addressed in Budget 2025

  • Existing Issues in the Agri-Tech Industry

    Some of the challenges facing the agri-tech sector are due to the issues faced by agriculture. For example, a high number of farmers in India have small landholdings, limited finances, and low access to technology. Most of our farmers cannot access technology used by farmers in developed countries due to the lack of funds. Hence, the challenge for the agri-tech sector is to come out with technologies that suit the realities of agriculture in India.

  • Industry Expectations to Overcome Hurdles

    As small landholdings is an issue in the agriculture sector, experts think that policies that promote land consolidation can address this problem. An Economic Times report said that stakeholders think that digital initiatives like e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture Market) should be prioritised even further to enable farmers to get better value for their crops. E-NAM connects Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) to create one market for agricultural commodities at the national level.

    Further, as per a The Hindu Business Line report, the industry expects Budget 2025 to help accelerate the use of modern-day technologies like IoT, AI, and satellite data in agriculture to improve productivity and help farmers get better value for their output. Meanwhile, a Firstpost report said that experts think the government should announce measures to make it easier for farmers to access crop protection solutions and digital tools, which can improve their crop output.

    I tried searching a lot for expected and past budget allocations for agri-tech but I could not find a reference link. I found that the Budget 2024 had allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors. But, how much of that was meant for agri-tech sector, I could not find. If you have a reference link, kindly share.

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This content is for educational purposes only. Securities quoted are exemplary and not recommendatory.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top expectations from the Agri-Tech Industry in Budget 2025?

Answer Field

The agri-tech industry expects the government to announce initiatives that can improve the use of technologies like AI, IoT, and satellite data in agriculture to improve crop yields and grow farmers’ income.

How can the Budget benefit the Agri-Tech Industry?

Answer Field

The budget can announce measures to encourage rural entrepreneurs who are coming out with innovative tech-based solutions for farmers. Further, it can make it easier for agri-tech startups to get data and funding to make them operationally and financially viable.

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